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Get the facts about safe water and adequate sanitation and how it affects children and their families.

• Depending on the climate, physical activity and culture, drinking-water needs for individuals vary, but for high-consumption consumers it is an estimated 2 quarts per day for a 130-pound person and 1 quart per day for a 22-pound child.

• Roughly one-sixth of the world's population, or 1.1 billion people, do not have access to safe water. 
 
• About 2.6 billion people in the world do not have access to adequate sanitation, roughly two-fifths of the world's population. 
 
• Approximately 1.8 million children die every year as a result of diseases caused by unclean water and poor sanitation. This amounts to around 5,000 deaths a day.

• The simple act of washing hands with soap and water can reduce diarrheal diseases by more than 40 percent.

• Water-related disease is the second biggest killer of children worldwide, after acute respiratory infections such as tuberculosis.

• Approximately 97.5 percent of the earth's water is saltwater. If the world's water fit into a bucket, only 1 teaspoonful would be drinkable.

• Around 90 percent of incidences of water-related diseases are due to unsafe water supply, sanitation and hygiene, and most victims are children in developing countries.

• The average person in the developing world uses 2.6 gallons of water every day for drinking, washing and cooking. This is the same amount used in the average flush of a toilet.

• Agriculture accounts for more than 80 percent of the world's water consumption.

• Approximately 21.1 percent of children live in developing countries without safe water.

Sources: www.who.int, www.wateraid.org, www.unicef.org